School Tidbits

Our big news is that Stacia finished the Raceway program in Sing Spell Read and Write. She would have finished much earlier...but I discovered with the program we were using for her and Zander she was MEMORIZING the work and not really understanding the phonics. Last year we began a totally new program and she progressed through the entire thing. She reads well now - and knows the phonics. LOL

 

Our children are always "behind" in language arts. This happens for several reasons. First and foremost is our educational philosophy and our long time experience with homeschooling - knowing what works with our kids. I focus on phonics alone until they master that....then we add in writing, spelling, grammar.

 

Zander exceeded all predictions by the "experts" and DID learn to read - phonetically. It just took us quite a few years longer than the norm. This means when we were ready to begin other areas of language arts I knew he was "behind." (Our 26 years of homeschooling really causes us not to sweat this - he'll be caught up by the time he graduates.)

 

And so, last year, I decided to start him on spelling and Wordly Wise.  From past experience, I knew that our Wordly Wise vocabulary books were a bit "excelled." He was in 5th grade and I started him on the book I had - 3rd grade - first edition. He  understood why he was behind and didn't cringe much when others his age had a 5 or 6 on their books. He finished it and I decided to skip through books 4 and 5 and order 6. Imagine our SHOCK when he began to work on it....

 

"Mom, these are the same words from book 3."

 

"All books do a bit of review."

 

"Mom, lesson 2 are old words too."

 

I checked! My WORD. We had edition 1. They are now on the third edition. Yes, book SIX is EXACTLY the same material that book three was over a decade ago.  EXACTLY - all the way through.

 

Last year was rough - but NOW we find Zander is a year AHEAD in vocabulary. ::snort:: He's happily working along in book 7. 

 

I've ordered book 5 for Stacia (she's in 3rd/4th grade).

 



Choosing Joy!
©2014 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Projects

SCHOOL - we managed to finish an entire week of school during a SHORT week - and a busy short week at that. 

We also managed to add a couple of Bible studies, a book club, several phone conversations with adult Gherkins, retreat meeting and a lunch meeting or two, and a BABY SHOWER!  It was a very full week.

In the down time we worked on a few projects. These two are putting together a Gundam action figure.  This is an incredibly intricate model - and all the directions are in Japanese.  Arielle had told Zander when she could read the directions she would help them. It's fun to watch them working on it.

 While Arielle and Zander work on international action figures....the rest work on a puzzle.  

We shop throughout the year for Operation Christmas Child - but this week we began shopping in earnest.  We also put together a display for PWOC and the Protestant service. We're excited to see how many shoe boxes the Beale community can pack and ship this year. One hundred and thirty last year.....

 

 

Choosing Joy!
©2014 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Princess Light and the King of Darkness

Stacia and Zander worked for a week to entertain us tonight.  Stacia wrote the play and Zander starred as the King of the Night.



 

Princess Light

 

King of Darkness approaches

 

After running for a bit Princess Light turns, faces the darkness and dispels it!  That'll preach!

This was fun to see on a variety of levels. I'm happy they organized this and nagged us all to sit and watch. I look forward to future plays. Fun to see their thought processes.

Choosing Joy!
©2014 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Columbus Day in Oregon!

My last real blog post was as we left for a long weekend in Eugene, OR. 

We arrived Friday around lunch and were joined at CAFE YUMM by BreZaak and Krista. Arielle and I love this place.  The "men" all went to either Wendy's or the sushi bar and brought their options back to Café Yumm. I went inside of Jamba Juice and bought a few drinks so we could all enjoy their outside seating. LOL A big bottle of Yumm Sauce purchased at this spot has been bringing enjoyment all week.

We decided to enjoy a leisurely stroll along the  Willamette River.  The walk along the river borders several community gardens, local parks and the Eugene Rose Garden.  I do LOVE the beauty of the Northwest.  It is also pure joy to meet up with the adult Gherkins.

The girls slept at Krista's and the rest of us enjoyed the hospitality of my brother Will and his wife, Sherri. Their granddaughter Harmony was waiting and waiting for us to "make contact." When BreZaak needed to get back to homework and "life," we called Sherri and dropped Stacia off to play. The rest of us went to visit with my parents and my cousin, Lori. We continued our visiting over dinner at Denny's.

The evenings and early mornings netted visiting time with Will and Sherri - a bonus over staying at a local hotel.  ::grin::  Below, Zander, Stacia and Harmony pretend to be interested in a Duck Game.

Stacia and Harmony

 Saturday, Michael and Will visited a couple of RV centers. We're looking for a stabilizing something or other for The Caboose.  Krista, the girls and I visited a couple of stores looking for Duck fan stuff....we all met back at the house to watch the Ducks (U of O) beat the Bruins (UCLA) 42 - 30. 

Saturday night Mom and Dad, Lori, niece Nadia and her boyfriend Seth, nephew Drew, BreZaak and Krista all converged at Will and Sherri's for dinner. Great fun.

Sunday we went home for church -  Calvary Open Bible Church (scroll down to see Pastor Bre - she's our eldest Gherkin).  We attended first service and then drove across town to Lively Stone Fellowship - Krista's church. Michael spoke.  Both sermons were great!  Feel fully revitalized spiritually we headed to Tio Pepe's for lunch. Rebecca, Michael's sister, met us there and we enjoyed another fun family dinner.  We enjoyed this spot. I like any restaurant with a vegetarian section on their menu - makes it really easy to adapt to vegan. LOL 

After lunch the kids and Michael and I spent an afternoon loving on each other....and enjoying Skinner's Butte.  Below is a mountain top view of the area.



Note the Three "Os"  - Autzen Stadium

 Gherkins on the Butte

 

Gherkins on the O

 

Sliding down the freshly painted O

Krista and the younger kids went on down to Skinner's Butte Park and we had a bit of quiet talk on the top for the Butte with Mrs. D.  We all met back at "the whale." This whale was in the area when we were kids. Mom used to bring Will and I to play on the whale.

 

Mom, Dad and Lori met us at Dickie Yo for a Sunday evening treat

 

Games and Football rounded out the evening

It always feels like a juggling act when we go home. We'd like to see all our friends (but rarely have time to touch base with friends), we love spending time with siblings and parents and our KIDS.....I know there is never enough time to do ALL you'd like to do - but I think this trip was a nice balance between time spent alone with our kids and extended family time. We did our best.

We drove home Monday and jumped into a shortened week early Tuesday a.m.

Choosing Joy!
©2014 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Portobello Steaks

We've been traveling. I'll back-blog this trip (and our San Francisco trip) "soon."

Joyful Thoughts
1. It was great to see the girls, Izaak, Mom and Dad, Will and Sherri, Andrew, Nadia, Harmony, Mom and Dad and Lorri this weekend.

2. Oregon is BEAUTIFUL - even when it RAINS (yes.it.did) - fall colors, GREEN....refreshes my soul.

3. How about those DUCKS! (UofO football - you know - DUCKS).

And - now - this was dinner tonight when we got home....and it's Michael approved. This one is fat free, gluten free, soy free and Omni approved! LOL

via Google Images -  Recipe from The Happy Herbivore Cookbook

Ingredients:
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried chives
1/2 tsp dried basil (I used more)
1/2 - 1 C water or vegan broth
1 garlic clove, minced
3 T balsamic vinegar
1 T mirin (or sherry)
2 Portobello mushrooms, stems removed
salt, to taste

Directions:
Grind herbs to a fine consistency using a mortar and pestle (I used my ulu knife from AK)

Line a large frying pan with a thin layer of water or broth.

Cook onion and garlic over high heat for about 2 minutes.

Once the liquid starts to boil, add vinegar, mirin and ground spices.

Reduce heat to medium, add another 1/2 C of water/broth and bring to a boil.

Add mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes.

Gently flip mushrooms over and cook for another 5 minutes, adding more water or broth as necessary. Repeat if necessary, cooking until mushrooms are soft and tender.

Remove from heat and plate.

Sprinkle a little salt over top and drizzle with leftover juices (I didn't have any).

Choosing Joy!
©2014 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

We're READY

Joyful Thoughts
1. Arielle did NOT have to have her finger lanced.

2. I did NOT leave the electric teapot turned on at Far West Campus.

3. Flight med is great. I called, they said come in, no hassle with Tri-care or their nurse line. I'm thankful.

I commented to Michael, "This day did not go as planned."

He replied, "When have they ever lately?"  ::snort::

I was uncomfortable leaving for OR without getting Arielle's finger checked!  Her finger has gotten swollen, red, hot, and filled with pus. I'd thought it was a mosquito bite but after a couple of days I clued in that it was something more. ::snort:: We've been doing the home remedy - to avoid the doctor who would want to lance it. It DID drain last night...but was still swollen, red and hot today. I called and they had us come right in. This means we did NOT get the couch school done we had planned for the day....but Arielle and Nolan DID get a full week of school in and the younger two got a full week of table school in. We'll just be one day behind in history and lit.

Our lovely doc said she didn't think she needed to lance it as it had drained. She DID think Arielle needs to take antibiotics as it IS still red, hot and swollen. She also commended our home remedy and told us to keep it up.

We got home in time to gather Yuuki and take her to the vet. She made our day by peeing on the vet's floor. Ugh. It wasn't the first time. We've been concerned at how much Yuuki vomits. She's also been having seizures but they've slowed down. SO....they are running some tests, starting her on some meds and boarding her over the weekend. We have an estimate for more stuff which we'll have to budget to have done in a few weeks....basically a geriatric workup. Poor thing.  The vet commended us on her not being overweight - which she says is common in beagles. She had lost 2.5 lbs since the last time she was in - and that concerns her. Just like human doctors - you can't keep them happy. LOL

Yuuki is at the doggie hotel.

The bags are packed. 

Dinner is done.

Snack boxes are packed.

Hot Tub is unplugged and circuit turned off.

All are in bed or heading that way-by way of showers.

We've been told to be up at 0330 for an 0400 departure. We'll be in OR by lunch time....but we'll have plenty of snacks in the car if the van is overtaken by aliens.

Final thought of the day, "Weebles wobble but they don't fall down."

Choosing Joy!
©2014 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Another Wednesday

Joyful Thoughts
1. There is no place or situation where I will ever be out of the presence of God - ask Jonah if you don't believe me. 

2. I'm blessed to serve the women of Beale AFB with some amazing women of God. Exciting to be a part of a God thing.

3. Enjoyed the start of our study on Ephesians tonight. It's gonna be good. We read the letter together, shared our first thoughts, and  began to flesh out the historical background.

It was a long day of Bible studies, PWOC board meeting, PWOC budget planning meeting, PWOC retreat meeting, followed by Family Bible study.

Arielle loves driving home Wednesday night - she's finishing up her last few night hours before she can take her driver's license test.  As we drove home I realized...if we leave Friday a.m. and get home Monday night....I better get a lot of PWOC stuff done tomorrow.

That's all. Wednesday's a wrap.....but just this one more closing thought....

God is good - regardless. Even when I'm a bit angry at Him, God is good. He loves me. I love Him.

Choosing Joy!
©2014 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...